End Game
by Chrome Hearts
Summary: It's all just a game, Armin reminded himself. Just a game. There was no way that he could physically get hurt. An excruciating burning sensation washed across him and he let out a loud cry of pain,pinching his eyes shut tightly. It's just a game... Just a game...
1. Prologue

Title; End Game  
Authoress; Chrome Hearts  
Style: Chaptered Series  
Chapter: Prologue  
Fandom; My Candy Love  
Main Focus; Armin  
Genre: Humor, Drama, Fantasy  
Rating; T+

**A/N: **Alright, alright. I _know _I should be updating Deception, but I can't help it. These 3am ideas that I get… I just have to write them. Not to mention I'm pretty excited about this one. I am aware that I'm most likely biting off more than I can chew with (now) _four _chaptered stories, but hey! I'll try to update once a week for three at least. And with this, I get to let my inner dork out. Finally, a story with a SHORT title. *cheers*  
So, here goes.  
My first Armin-based story.

**Disclaimer: **_All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. _

_**~End Game~  
**_

A content sigh escaped Armin's lips as he settled himself down in front of his computer, a rather large packet of potato chips and a can of raspberry Fanta placed conveniently on the desk in front of him. It was a Friday night, and what could be a better way to celebrate the end of the school week than pulling an all-nighter testing out some new computer games he had recently purchased?  
_Yes. _A perfect way to relax after a long week of, er, well… Trying not to fall asleep in class. It _was _a rather exhausting task.  
Armin's eyes locked onto a small pop-out box, traveling slowly down past the available links to the _Store _and _Patch Notes, _glancing briefly over a rather ferocious looking panda before they came to rest on the updating bar. He let out an annoyed groan as the loading bar remained on 37% - it hadn't moved for about an hour; Honestly it couldn't possibly take _this _long to install a game.  
Shrugging his shoulders, Armin minimized the popup box and opened a Game folder, scrolling through a list of never-before-played games until he found one that caught his eye.  
"Skyrim?" he mused before shaking his head. "No, that can wait." Scrolling through a few more game icons, another title caught his eye. "Aion? When did I get- Oh, never mind." Booting up the game, Armin let out another grumble of frustration as the game began to install itself. Quickly closing the download so as not to handicap the World of Warcraft download farther, Armin returned to his scrolling in an attempt to occupy himself. "Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? _No… _Starcraft?" Armin made a small, rumbling noise in the back of his throat. "Too easy. Silent Hill? Overrated. Why did I even download that anyway- _Oh_! Diablo III. I think I'll try that."  
Double clicking on the icon, Armin smiled to himself as the log-in screen instantly appeared. After quickly typing in his account details and authentication code he signed in, waiting for the character screen to appear.  
A long string of profanity escaped Armin's lips and he slumped back into his desk chair in disbelief.  
"Requires a new patch to play?" he grumbled. "Forget it. I'll just play Slender."

_**~End Game~  
**_

Groggily, Armin glanced at the small clock at the bottom of his screen; the small, white numbers ticked over slowly – not to mention glowed far too brightly for the dark room, and, of course, for Armin's liking.  
"Four fifty?" he sighed, his eyelids drooping. "Why am I so exhausted? Normally I'm way-" stifling a yawn, he rested his head on the desk. "I'm way more awake than…"  
Closing his hooded eyes completely, Armin moved his head atop his folded arms, shifting them occasionally to get comfortable.  
The side of his forearm made contact with something smooth and cold – without much of a thought, and not wanting to open his eyes, the dark haired boy pushed it away from him, smiling in satisfaction as he heard it land on what he presumed was the floor with a hollow _thunk. _  
What did it matter that he was exhausted? Exactly – it didn't. Besides, there wasn't any school for two days. He could stay up all weekend.  
_Perfect.  
_That was exactly what he was going to do.  
And people wondered why he could never seem to stay awake during classes…

_**~End Game~**_

The aluminium can lay, precariously balanced atop the computer tower – its acidic orange contents dripping through the fan vent and into the harddrive. The fan stalled, the tower emitting a small hissing sound.  
Armin's ears twitched at the sound of it, but he did not lift his head. A soft orange light slowly illuminated the tower before gradually seeping out, illuminating everything in its path.  
Very slowly, the orange light began to creep up Armin's sleeping figure before completely engulfing him.  
Flexing his fingers in his semi sleep-like state, Armin let out a small gasp of shock. Instead of the smooth, wooden surface of his desk supporting his upper half, it was thin and spiky. Somewhat dewy. _Grass?_ But how?  
Armin sat up immediately, his vision swimming in the bright light.  
As his eyes slowly returned to normal –aside from being flecked with black dots of varying sizes- he furrowed his brows first in confusion at his surroundings, and then as the thought dawned on him, in horror.  
"Where am I?"

_**~End Game~**_

_**A/N: **_I must say… If you made it to the end of the prologue – kudos to you. The prologue was a little more serious than what I intended. I plan to start the first few chapters off rather lightly, gradually growing darker as the story progresses.

Like I said; my inner dork is coming out.  
_Yay~  
Dorkiness.  
_


	2. Culling of the Blackrocks

Title; End Game  
Authoress; Chrome Hearts  
Style: Chaptered Series  
Chapter One – Culling of the Blackrocks.  
Arc: One.  
Fandom; My Candy Love  
Main Focus; Armin  
Genre: Humor, Drama, Fantasy  
Rating; T+

**A/N: **Okay, so I have a rough idea of what I'm going to be writing. And to make sure I've got the dialogue and general direction down pat… I actually made a character. His name is Ärmin and he actually has an imp called Galtai. xD

**Disclaimer: **_All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. World of Warcraft is copyright by Blizzard Entertainment. I only own the plot and the occasional character I wish to insert. In the case of this arc; it's Dreamwind and Snowypaws. _

_**~End Game~**_

Armin pulled himself shakily to his feet and looked around. Forest. Forest surrounded the immediate area, a large mountain range looming over the tops of the branches. From within the forest, snarls and howls echoed, multiple pairs of glowing orange eyes becoming visible in the darkness. A wide, cobblestone road lead away from where Armin stood, winding through a small clearing in the forest – the roadside lined with the occasional wooden fence and lamps. A large Abbey stood a little way off to his left, its red-brick towers and large wooden doors were like nothing he had ever seen. Squinting, he could just make out two lines of cobalt-coloured tapestries with a golden lion's head emblazoned in the centre of each one. Tilting his head, Armin's gaze fell upon a figure clad in chainmail; completing his attire was a shield, sword and feathered helmet. Maybe he could explain why Armin was here.  
After taking a small step towards the guard, a thought dawned on him. He had been sleeping on the dirty grass for – how long? He didn't know. Reaching behind him, Armin made to dust off his pants before he made a small noise of surprise, looking down.  
Where were his pants? Was this some kind of sick joke that somebody was playing on him?  
Furrowing his brows in embarrassment, Armin glanced around to see if anyone had seen him.  
No, the question wasn't where his pants were hidden. The actual question was why the _hell _was he wearing a freaking dress?  
Dresses were _not _for men. Not even red ones like this, complete with a scarlet hemming. No. This was sick. Quickly starting forward, Armin approached the chain mail-clad man in front of him.  
"Excuse me," he said nervously. "Where am I?"  
Removing his helmet, the guard smiled. "So you're the new recruit from Stormwind, eh? I'm Marshall McBride, the commander of this garrison."  
Armin stared at the man in puzzlement. "Storm… _Where_?"  
"Stormwind," McBride clarified.  
Making a noise of uncertainty, Armin shifted. "Er, okay. Do you… Uh, do you know where my pants are?"  
McBride laughed heartily, the noise echoing off the stone-flagged walls of the abbey of whose doorway he stood in.  
"Under your robe, of course!"  
Robes? No, he had to be mistaken. It was a dress. A long sleeved dress. Seemingly unconcerned by the look of horror on Armin's face, Marshall McBride continued. "Now, we're greatly in need of your assistance in clearing these Blackrocks out of the way. I'm sure your little friend can help with that."  
Blackrocks? He wanted an excavating team? Nodding once, Armin started off towards the forest, his eyes cast downwards looking for any large, black rock that stuck out of the ground.  
Leaves crunched from behind him and startled, Armin whirled around coming face to face with – nothing.  
A small amused grumble echoed from nearby and Armin let out an alarmed scream as he looked at his feet. A small, hairless demonic creature rocked back and forth on its clawed paws. A small, acid green flame washed across its tiny body before disappearing, only to reignite at the creatures feet.  
"_Ah_!" Armin gasped, taking a few backwards steps away from the creature, only to have it follow after him, chattering happily in its strange, demonic tongue.  
"Get away from me you stupid gremlin!" Armin snapped as he turned, circling around a particularly large tree and back out into the sunlight where the Abbey resided.  
Marshall McBride greeted him with a wave. "So, did you kill the Blackrocks for me?"  
"K-kill?" Armin stammered as he reached his side, shooting a glance back towards the forest's edge where, much to his horror, the hairless, spiky gremlin followed closer, an amused smile on its tiny face revealing two lines of sharp, little teeth.  
"Of course, _kill_," McBride said. "How else are we going to cull them?"  
Cull? Rocks? Why would they even-  
"Look at you – not even a scratch. Those wolves mustn't have gotten to you yet."  
_Wolves…?_ Armin thought, panicked. _They were the Blackrocks I was supposed to be getting rid of?  
_"Ah! I told you to stay away from me!"  
The small creature bounded to Armin's side, croaking happily – its long, heavily pierced ears bobbing up and down as it rocked on its feet.  
McBride cracked Armin a smile, placing a hand on the dark haired boy's shoulder.  
"That is your imp – your minion – your friend. He will fight alongside you and," he added as an afterthought upon seeing Armin's mortified expression, "he is completely harmless, to you, at least. This is _Geltai." _He gestured to the imp at Armin's side who flexed his fingers, looking up at his master with a toothy smile.  
"Geltai…" Armin mused as McBride dismissed him. Master and Minion made their way back into the dark, surrounding forest to cull wolves – how exactly Armin was supposed to do that, was beyond him – but he would try nonetheless. Geltai looked up at him, a small croak rumbling from the back of its throat as they neared a particularly savage looking wolf.  
"Galtai, let's do this."

_**~End Game~**_

_**A/N: **_Lalala short update. Deciding to play the actual World of Warcraft character along with this was a bad idea. Distractions, distractions. xD Oh well.


	3. Sanctified

Title; End Game  
Authoress; Chrome Hearts  
Style: Chaptered Series  
Chapter Two – Sanctified.  
Fandom; My Candy Love  
Main Focus; Armin  
Genre: Humor, Drama, Fantasy  
Rating; T+

**A/N: **So I honestly didn't expect anyone to review this. So, a big thank you to my two reviewers Stella and Exactlyamanda. I'm glad you could understand the dorky plot. :3

**Disclaimer: **_All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. World of Warcraft is copyright by Blizzard Entertainment. I only own the plot and the occasional character I wish to insert. In the case of this arc; it's Dreamwind and Snowypaws._

_**End Game**_

Armin let out a quiet sigh as he sat on the steps of Pestle's Apothecary, his head tilted up to the orange-streaked sky. The sun was very slowly disappearing behind the high, stone walls of Stormwind casting the city into a gentle shadow. Next to him, his companion Geltai played with a small, acid green ball of fire it held in its hand; throwing it –and incinerating- the occasional rat that scurried past on the cobblestone street in front of them before chattering excitedly in its demonic tongue.  
At first, Armin had thought that he had simply fallen asleep at his computer – which certainly looked like the case. However, after several weeks passed of waiting, Armin had come to realise that he was going to be remaining in this strange place for quite some time. To pass his time, Armin had been given a small but cosy wooden room in Stormwind City's bustling Trade District inn, The Gilded Rose, and had slowly become accustomed to the people who resided within the city's great walls.  
It did take some time for him to get used to the strange personalities and vastly different ways of life… However, physical appearances were always hard to accept.  
Armin chucked quietly to himself as he thought about the first time he had met Snowypaws, a tall, blue rather odd specimen with hooves, a sleek blue tail and curved horns. A goat-like figure, certainly. But the sky-blue skin and small tendrils growing from the neck was what threw him off. Snowypaws was in fact a goat – but more specifically, a _space _goat.  
His grin widened when he remembered the first –and very much so repeated- phrase he had ever spoken to the strange female. 'Hooves! You have _hooves!' _  
That shouldn't have come as such a surprise to him had he of actually _played _World of Warcraft before, well, his current predicament…  
Space goats, dwarves and werewolves roamed freely around the spectacular city that was Stormwind, and nobody ever gave it a second though – except for Armin. Glancing upwards, Armin squinted over the blue slate roofs of the cottages and stores that marked the Trade District. His eyes fell onto the tall clock tower stationed on a small island in the centre of the Stormwind's canals.  
Seven-twenty. Dusk. He had exactly ten minutes to make his way across the vast city to the Cathedral. His Marksman friend Snowypaws had promised to introduce him to someone who claimed to understand why, well, why Armin was there – in their world. A holy knight. A brave Paladin named Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker. How exactly he had come to the conclusion of Armin's arrival made Armin's stomach churn with uncertainty. After all, if anyone should have the slightest inkling towards how he got there, it should be Armin. Getting to his feet with a quiet sigh, Armin started off down the cobblestone road towards the canals.  
Of course, he had to trust Grayson. It was the only chance he had.

_**~End Game~**_

Armin sat nervously on a carved stone bench on the far wall of the Cathedral, Galtai occasionally keening softly as it played on the smooth stone floor at Armin's feet. Soon enough, the clicking of nails echoed throughout the vast Cathedral and Snowypaws entered the grand Cathedral, a large red lynx at her side, closely followed by Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker. Smiling, the Marksman made her way over to where Armin and Galtai were stationed and, as she came to a halt, she scratched the lynx behind the ear.  
"I can see he is making you uneasy," she said, her accent thick. "Don't worry – Geum has been my friend for the longest time. He wouldn't hurt you."  
The large, saber-like feline let out a placid yawn as he stretched out on the cold floor, his deep-set tangerine-colored eyes locked onto Armin.  
Side-stepping to allow Grayson some space, the Marksman smiled. "Okay," she said. "As I promised, Armin – this is Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker – a Paladin who believes he's worked out why you're here."  
"Greetings," Grayson nodded. "It is in my right to believe that you have been sent here for a reason – to fulfil an unforeseen task. To achieve some sort of unknown greatness. It is, as I see it, somewhat of a prophecy." Grayson furrowed his brow slightly and shook his head, quickly correcting himself. "No, no. Not so much of a prophecy, rather, you must fulfill a task in order to go back to your, er, _homeland. _Undergo a journey. I believe your key out of this realm is a Portal said to lie in Illidan Stormrage's chambers. That is what you must strive to reach - alive."  
Armin got to his feet. "Okay, then I'll just go ask him if I can use the Portal then." It was simple, really. Go see Illidan. Go through the Portal. Arrive safely back in Sweet Amoris. Honestly, how difficult could that be?  
Geum lifted his head from his paws, a small, unsure growl rumbled out from the back of his throat.  
Snowypaws crouched down at his side, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder blade.  
"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Armin," she said, shaking her head. "Illidan Stormrage resides in Shadowmoon Valley, deep within the Black Temple. To get there, well," she made a face. "You'll be killed immediately if you go alone. There's no way you'd survive."  
Grayson nodded his head grimly. "The Huntress is right, however, there is a way. We could go with you. It would be a difficulty journey but I assure you, you _will _make it to the Portal alive."  
Shifting uncomfortably as Galtai moved to his side, Armin forced a smile.  
"I have to do this."  
"Very well," Grayson said, his voice gravelly. "And we shall accompany you to your destination. Armin; May the Light protect you – Believe me, you're going to need it."

_**~End Game~**_

_**A/N: Pfft. Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker. Shadowbreaker? Really? What sort of last name is that, Blizzard? Bah.**_

I honestly didn't expect this to be so difficult to write. There's a lot going on in WoW – a lot of Lore, and it's hard to sort of simplify it, let alone try to tailor-make my own plot grabbing things from four different expansions. (Maybe I'll skip WotLK. I didn't like it very much, anyway.)


End file.
